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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22767625">I Have You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992'>Katybug1992</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I Have You [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Hockey RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, set mostly during Skinner's Rookie year</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:47:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,450</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22767625</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Their parents pass away when Jared is fourteen years old, Eric takes in Jared.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jeff Skinner/Jared Staal, Staal Brothers - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I Have You [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636921</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Have You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ages at the beginning: Eric - 24, Marc - 22, Jordan - 20, Jared - 14</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a car accident, they had died on impact. The aunts and uncles had agreed to taking over the running of the farm by the time Eric, Marc, and Jordan had arrived back in Thunder Bay.  They pulled up to the house and immediately headed into the barn and up to the hay loft, where they knew their little brother had been hiding for a majority of the time - hiding from people, from pitying looks, from funeral plans. Because Jared was only fourteen.  He was only fourteen, his parents had been dead for less than ten hours, and his brothers were scattered across the East Coast.</p><p>“Oh, Jay,” the words left Eric’s mouth before he could stop them at the sight of his little brother, arms wrapped tightly around himself, eyes rimmed red with dark circles, and shivering.  It was still early in the fall, but it was a little colder than it usually was this time of year and Jared had probably been up here since he got the news.</p><p>Jared was up and running to Eric as soon as he registered the voice.</p><p>“I got you.” Eric whispered, clutching his little brother to him, “I will always have you.”</p><p>Marc and Jordan came up and joined the hug, trying to keep themselves together as Jared completely shattered under their protective shield.</p><p>Later, when Jared had exhausted himself and his brothers had gotten him into the house and into his bed, they sat down at the kitchen table with the aunts and uncles.</p><p>“I think we need to talk about guardianship of Jared,” one of the older aunts said, “He’s the only one still considered a child.”</p><p>“I’ll do it.” Eric immediately said, “I’m the oldest, I have the most concrete Contract, and Tanya will be there to be with him while I’m on roadtrips. We live in a good area, the house is a really good school district and there are several private schools that are good close by.”</p><p>“What about me?” Marc asked, “I’m only two years younger than you.”</p><p>“You’re single and have an apartment in Manhattan, with no one already in place to stay with him while you’re gone.” Eric reminded him, turning to Jordan to preemptively cut off his complaints, “And you’re only 20, Jordie.”</p><p>“The Social Worker will be by in the morning.” one of the uncles responded.</p><p> “Can’t even wait until after the funeral?” Jordan glared.</p><p>“It’s better to get it done now,” Eric replied, “They can push through the paperwork and I can take him home with me.”</p><p> </p><p>The rest of the week flew past and Marc and Eric were packing up Jared’s room while Jordan went with him to say his goodbyes.</p><p>It surprisingly didn’t take much of an adjustment period. Jared was smart and tested into the best private school in Raleigh. He excelled in school, joined the paper and Eric proudly shared the articles he wrote with anyone who would listen to him praise his baby brother (Marc and Jordan did the same but Eric got to gloat to about it in person, with Jared standing next to him, blushing and telling him to shut up). He was the best forward on the school’s hockey team, was a shoo-in for the Captaincy his senior year and was already being scouted by colleges, which did ruffle some feathers since the scouts were only there for this freshman who had three brothers in the NHL.</p><p>Their first real test came when Jared came out to him. Eric had been worried because Jared had seemed to draw in on himself and then he got a call from Marc telling him that Eric needed to sit down and have a real adult-child talk with their little brother, who was scared and hurting but hadn’t said anything about why to Marc or Jordan.  And Jared told Marc everything. So Eric and Tanya (because he was scared for his baby brother and needed the added support) sat him down and asked the question, completely blindsided by the answer.</p><p>Eric saw all of Jared dreams going down the toilet.  The chances of being an out and happy NHL player were very small (and all Eric wanted for Jared for his him to be happy). But those were thoughts for another time because he looked at his little brother and saw the expression of a terrified child and he immediately stood up and pulled him into a hug, holding him tight and whispering those same words, “I have you. I will always have you”.</p><p>Later that day, he held Jared’s hand as he came out to Marc and then Jordan (and Tanya held Eric’s hand because he was terrified of how much harder Jared’s life was going to be), both of who had been expecting the worst and immediately voiced their support. Jared wasn’t going to be out to everyone, but he wanted his family to know.  They would later have a separate conversation with Eric of how best to support and be there for Jared, and they all started doing their own research on being a good ally and figuring out the best ways to bring up to their teams about getting more involved in the You Can Play movement.</p><p>After that, it was smooth sailing, some curveballs flew at Eric during Jared’s particularly teenager moments but nothing he and Tanya couldn’t handle (and he was totally thankful teenager Jared was nowhere near as bad as teenager Jordan).  The years passed, Eric got the C and Jordan came to Carolina.</p><p>The next hiccup occured when Jared had been drilled hard into the boards during a play-off game his junior year.  He spent several days in the hospital, he obviously had a concussion and the doctors wanted to keep an eye on him. He had been unconscious for about thirty seconds after the hit and had been completely scrambled and incoherent when he woke up.  That on top of his knee cap practically shattering on impact with the board and then the ice, meant a long recovery time.  And the knee….the knee couldn’t be fixed. Not completely. He would be able to eventually put weight on it and was going to be able to do everything he normally could, but it would be more fragile, wouldn’t be able to stand up to any hard hits. And that news, more than anything else, broke Jared.</p><p>He was silent until the doctor left the room, Tanya excusing herself to give the brothers the room, calling her mom to check in on how Parker and Levy were doing.  They had been itching to come to the hospital see Jared but Eric and Tanya wouldn’t let them. Jared had only barely remembered Tanya before the fog lifted and none of them wanted to see how his nephews would react if Jay couldn’t remember them.</p><p>“E,” Jared choked out.</p><p>And immediately Eric was on the bed next to him, wrapping him in a tight hug and letting Jared hide his face in Eric’s neck, blinking back his own tears as he felt Jared start crying. Jordan and Marc joining them moments after.</p><p>“I have you.” Eric whispered into Jared’s hair, resting his chin on his little brother’s head, “I have you.”</p><p> </p><p>That bump took a lot longer to get over.  It was a long, painful experience.  There was concussion recovery, which put off PT, which made PT worse, and Eric had decided to get Jared a therapist once the concussion symptoms cleared.  And that was going well. Jared still managed to ace his junior year and submit several college applications even after all the time he missed because of his concussion. Eric was extremely proud of his little brother.</p><p>“E,” Jordan muttered under his breath as practice wrapped up, most of the guys staying out on the ice a little longer.  It was, after all, the first practice of regular season.</p><p>“Jay!” Eric’s face lit up as he saw Jared standing behind the bench.</p><p>“I thought you were going out with Travis after school.” Jordan raised an eyebrow.</p><p>Travis was the guy Jared was seeing on the hockey team, had been seeing since before he got hurt.  Jordan and Eric weren’t his biggest fans, something didn’t sit right with them about him.</p><p>“We went for coffee.” Jared responded with a shrug. It was a half-day and he and Travis usually went to lunch after they were released.</p><p>“So you haven’t eaten lunch?” Eric got that concerned look on his face that Jared kind of hated.</p><p>“Please, E,” Jared pleaded, “don’t do this.”</p><p>“What happened?” the tone of his little brother tipping them off.</p><p>“He broke up with me.” Jared muttered, looking away, “No scouts from the big name schools are scheduled to come to any games with me being done. No need to use me anymore.”</p><p>“Knew there was a reason I didn’t like him.” Jordan muttered, grip tightening on his stick.</p><p>“Not the time.” Eric muttered, “Go grab your extra skates.”</p><p>Jordan nodded and did what his brother asked him to and Eric gestured for Jeff to come over.</p><p>“Jay, this is Jeff, he’s a rookie this year.” Eric introduced them, “Skinny, this is my brother, Jared.”</p><p>“Nice to meet you.” the eighteen year olds said in unison, a sense of dread filling Eric slightly as the almost awed look on Jeff’s face and the little smirk on Jared’s.</p><p>“Oh, before I forget, E, I need you to sign something tonight.” Jared turned his attention back to Eric.</p><p>“In trouble already?” Eric teased.</p><p>“You’re thinking about Jordan.” Jared rolled his eyes, “Anyway, it’s just a permission form saying that I’ll be able to handle being editor of the school paper on top of my academic schedule.”</p><p>Eric looked over at Jared and saw him looking back nervously. His classes were something the brothers (because of course Marc and Jordan couldn’t stay out of it) had argued about. Jaren had decided to take all AP and Honors classes, without hockey he would have more time in the day to fill (not that he hadn’t taken the advance courses the previous three years). Eric and Jordan were on the side of ‘take it easy your Senior year, you’re a shoo-in for every school you apply to’ and Marc taking more a neutral ‘know your limits’ position. Eric thought Marc was weak and just didn’t want Jared mad at him.</p><p>“We’ll talk about this later.” Eric finally replied, “Actually talk about this.”</p><p>“Dr. Phillips says that it’s good for me to have something to focus on.”</p><p>“Dr. Phillips also says that you have to face what you’re feeling head-on and not run away from it.”</p><p>“And you’re PT dude says to get back to doing what you love,” Jordan grinned, dropping the skates on the bench next to Jared, “Lace up!”</p><p>“Jordie -” Jared went to argue but seeing the looks on his older brothers’ faces he sighed and did as he was told. He, maybe, had a chance at out stubborning one of them, but definitely did not stand a chance when it came to them teaming up.</p><p>“Careful.” Eric said unnecessarily as he and Jordan moved to stand close to him as he jumped onto the ice.</p><p>“I know, E,” Jared rolled his eyes, going to some semblance of normalcy, “it’s not my first time back on skates.” </p><p>And it wasn’t. Staals were nothing if not born to be on the ice. As soon as his PT said it would okay, he and his brothers rented out a small ice rink and spent several hours just skating, helping Jared feel at home on the ice again. But it didn’t stop the hovering. It didn’t stop them from seeing him crumpled on the ice. </p><p>“Easy,” Jordan muttered, “don’t push yourself.”</p><p>Everything melted away. It was just the three brothers lazily skating around. Eric and Jordan sharing a delighted look at the expression of relief on Jared face. Because he was still a Staal, still most at home on the ice, still a gifted skater. Still their baby brother who, above anything else, they just wanted to see happy. </p><p>When it became clear that Jared was getting worn out, Jordan gently guided him off the ice, distracting him from the self-deprecating feelings by telling him about how Eric tripped over nothing when he walked into the locker room that morning.</p><p> </p><p>Eric let Jordan give Jared a ride home since he was joining them for dinner anyway.</p><p>“Wanna join us?” Eric asked Jeff as they headed to the parking lot.</p><p>“Sure.” Jeff agreed.</p><p>“Come over at 5.” </p><p>Jeff nodded and headed to his own car, driving the relatively short distance from the rink to the apartment the team had found for him.</p><p> </p><p>When Jeff arrived, a woman he assumed was Tanya opened the door and immediately apologized.</p><p>“They’ve been going at it since Eric got home.  Thank god my parents wanted to take the boys tonight.” she grimaced as the yelling got a little louder, “Eric and Jordan get worried, Jared gets frustrated. I’m Tanya, by the way.”</p><p>“Jeff.”</p><p>“I figured.” Tanya smiled, leading him further into the house, “Ever since Jay got hurt, he’s doubled down on school and it leads to arguments like this. He got asked to be editor of the school paper, but with his workload this semester, the school wants his guardian’s permission. And with Jordan here too...well, let’s say Jared doesn’t really feel like he has anyone in his corner right now.”</p><p>“That must be hard.”</p><p>“They’ll get through it.” Tanya smiled lightly, “They always do. Even if it takes Jared calling Marc and then Marc calling Eric to yell at him. It’ll work itself out.”</p><p>Tanya then sent a barrage of questions at Jeff about everything she could think of, only pausing when Jared jogged down the stairs and out the front door.</p><p>“Jay!” Both Jordan and Eric went running down the stairs after him, rock-paper-scissoring to see who would be the one to chase him down the street.</p><p>“Eric,” Tanya snapped as Jordan torn out the door, “what the hell!? Just sign the damn form!”</p><p>“It’s not about the damn form!” Eric snapped back, looking almost scared, “It’s about Jared running from -”</p><p>“Then let him run and be there to catch him if he crashes.” Tanya replied gently, “He’s lost right now. Hockey was always his future. He doesn’t have that anymore and he’s trying to find his new one. Marc thinks it’s journalism.”</p><p>“He is really good at it.” Eric nodded.</p><p>“And his top three schools? They only take the best of the best. He’ll let you know if he needs help.”</p><p>“I feel so….useless.” Eric sighed, “Mom and dad would know what to do.”</p><p>“You just have to be there to support him.” Tanya replied, running a hand through his hair, “Let him run until he gets to where he needs to be.”</p><p>Eric sighed, kissing her hand and saying, “You’re right.”</p><p>Turning his attention to Jeff, he smiled, “Sorry. You got here at bad time. But once Jared and Jordan are back, we can sit down. Jay helped Tanya make dinner. Before we started fighting.”</p><p>“So he didn’t have time to poison anything.” Tanya grinned.</p><p>Soon after, the youngest Staal brothers returned with Jordan helping Jared over to the table, Eric already there with a bag of ice that was quickly taped to Jared’s knee.  Jeff looked away as the three brothers had their quiet conversation, apologizes and assurances whispered between questions about pain level and if Jared needed to go to the doctor the next day.</p><p>Tanya nudges Jeff lightly and they join the brothers at the table.</p><p>“So, have you gotten your first assignment yet?” Tayna asked, smiling softly as Eric and Jordan work seamlessly to fix Jared’s plate and their little brother lets them. It had taken a long time for Jared to accept that sometimes they needed to take care of him.</p><p>“Our faculty advisor wants me to try my hand at sports journalism, since I have an understanding of that world. He thinks I’ll be good at it.”</p><p>“What will that be?” Jordan asked, “Like, write ups of games?”</p><p>“No, we have someone who puts those together.” Jared shook his head, “He wants me to do more in depth pieces. Like anaylzing the school teams, what went wrong, what went right, pieces on athletes, not just our school but professional and college teams as well. He’s giving me kind of free reign to write about what I want to write about. Obviously, I will, occasionally, have pieces I have no choice but to write on, but I’ll have pieces of my choosing at the same time.”</p><p>“Let us know if you need anything.” Eric grinned, “And you have total access to every ‘Cane.”</p><p>“Good to know.” Jared returned the smile with an identical one.</p><p>Dinner was nice, everyone making an effort to include Jeff in the conversation and making him feel welcomed and it was nice. He tries not to let his gaze linger too long on Jared, he really doesn’t need to develop a crush his Captain’s little brother. Well...Captains since everyone knows Jordan is getting an A this season. Also, Jared was fresh out of a relationship based on what he had overheard earlier.</p><p> </p><p>It had been a few weeks since the dinner, the season truly starting and Tanya was once again grateful for Jared’s help with the kids. Ever since he had gotten his drivers license he happily took Parker and Levi to school (silently thankful that Levi was in Kindergarten now so he didn’t have to make more than one stop) and picked them up. But it was one less thing Tanya had to do.</p><p>She dropped off the groceries and sorted through the mail, smiling when she saw the Jared’s school paper - the school mailed it out to students houses.</p><p>“Born to Play” by Jared Staal was printed in bold on the front page - above the fold - with a black and white photo of Eric and Jordan standing next to each other during the home opener, the “C” on Eric’s jersey and the freshly applied “A” on Jordan’s.  All thoughts of putting away the groceries left her mind as she picked up the paper and began reading.</p><p>“Most player profiles are filled with stats and figures. Analysis of the player performance across the seasons they’ve been playing. Mentions of what number overall they went in the draft and in what round, maybe peppering in mentions of how other members of their draft class are doing and how they measure up. Most profiles of Eric and Jordan Staal would mention that Eric Staal scored the game winning goal in the game that won the Hurricanes the Cup in his rookie year and Jordan Staal won the Cup a few years late in Pittsburg after knocking out his older brother’s team in the Conference Final. But this isn’t like most player profiles because this is about the players as brothers.</p><p>There are two things that everyone automatically knows about you when you’re a Staal from Thunder Bay, Ontario. The first is that you grew up on a sod farm. The second is that you were born to play hockey. The first time I put on a pair of skates, I was two and my brothers took me out onto the pond. Eric, 12, held me up. Jordan, 8, hovered nearby, ready to dive in whatever direction needed to catch me if Eric happened to lose his grip. And Marc, 10, held back, ready to tell Eric and Jordan to back off and let me try on my own if I wanted to. And, just like my brothers, I was a natural skater and sooner than mom and dad wanted, I was ready to play hockey.</p><p>When you live in Thunder Bay, Ontario and you have three older brothers thriving in the NHL, scouts come to see you play at an earlier age than most - from many different leagues. When you’re a Thunder Bay Staal, you’re born with the talent and the drive it takes to be a professional athlete. I trained with my brothers when they came home during the off seasons. I had my future figured out. But fate had other ideas.</p><p>I was fourteen when my parents were killed in a car accident. As family descended on the farm, I hid in the barn. The barn that my brothers and I would take all the junk mom was planning to throw away and we would shoot puck at to break them. The barn that I practiced slapshots in. The barn that had always been my safe place. I watched out of the window of the hayloft as my brothers pulled up several hours later, having needed to let their teams know about the situation and book last minute flights. I watched as they immediately headed to the barn and Eric was the first one to reach me, Jordan covering what he couldn’t, and Marc coming over to make sure that they weren’t suffocating me.</p><p>I was a fourteen year old kid, Eric freshly twenty-four, when my older brother moved me from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Raleigh, North Carolina. He was the oldest, had the most secure contract, and had a wife who would be there to look after me when he had to travel with the team. He made sure to keep my player development up. During the season, he would create time to take me to the rink, run the drills that he ran at practice. During the off-season, we would return to Thunder Bay and I would, once again, train with my brothers. </p><p>It wasn’t all smooth sailing. I was sixteen when I came out to my brothers and Eric and Jordan got the Hurricanes involved with You Can Play and Hockey Is For Everyone. They’ve been my biggest allies, there’s only so much Marc can do all the way in New York - other than get the Rangers more involved with You Can Play and Hockey Is For Everyone than they already were.</p><p>The next hurtle was something none of us saw coming. Last year, we were playing in the final game for the State Championship. It had been a year of records for me. I was breaking them left and right and creating a few as well. It was rare that we played a game where college scouts and other hockey scouts were not in attendance (because I am a Staal from Thunder Bay, Ontario and my three older brothers are thriving in the NHL and everyone had that same expectation for me). Then I got hit behind. Not just hit, completely run down, run over, backed up over, and then run over again for extra measure. I don’t remember much from the couple days after. I know that the only people I actually recognized were my brothers. I know that my knee completely shattered. </p><p>My head cleared up after a couple days and the first of three surgeries on my knee was scheduled. My dreams of playing hockey were done. And that is something that my whole family is still coming to grasps with. Eric has been by my side through everything. He came with me every one of my physical therapy and rehab appointments, not leaving my side for a second. Jordan has been close by the entire time, ready to catch me if I stumble and Eric is - by some miracle - not fast enough to catch me. And Marc, from his apartment in Manhattan, has been there to tell them when I need space to figure out my next step.</p><p>It took way too long, but over the summer, my physical therapist finally cleared me to skate. In fact, he encouraged me to skate. Usually, we spend our summers in Thunder Bay but I needed to be close to my PT in case anything happened that set back recovery. So, instead, Marc came down here. And when we got that news, Eric immediately found a small ice rink and rented it out for a couple hours. And that first lap was just like the first time - with Eric holding me up, Jordan hovering nearby, and Marc watching carefully for signs that I wanted them to backoff.</p><p>I could write a whole other article about what a God-sent Marc is, and I probably will, but as my Senior year kicks off - my first year ever without hockey - I felt like this was the more important article. Because Eric has always been my constant pillar of strength and Jordan has always been there to catch me if I stumble. And right now, I know that they’re worried about me. They’re worried that I’m running away from my problems, that I’m coping with not having hockey by diving head first into school before I’ve learned how to swim. They’re coping with the fact that the schools I want to go to are not close to Raleigh in their own ways, but will support whatever decision I make.</p><p>See, player profiles are usually so full of statistics and analysis that we tend to forget the people underneath those numbers. Eric and Jordan Staal are more than their career numbers, more than their draft numbers (both drafted second overall, by the way). They’re more than the letters on their jerseys. They were always my hockey heroes. And they’re my biggest cheerleaders. Eric shows off every article I’ve ever written like they’re articles in the New York Times. Jordan bragged about my acceptance into the National Honors Society in a nationally televised interview.</p><p>Eric and Jordan Staal are more than their stats and figures. They’re my older brothers. They raised me through a difficult time. And there are going to be more bumps in the road, but I know that we’ll get over them. Because Eric and Jordan Staal have let me stumble when I needed to, but they have never once let me fall. And that tells you all you need to know about the humans they are. And that’s what a player profile should be - about the human - because how someone acts off the ice is more important than their +/- anyday.”</p><p>By the time Tanya had finished reading the article, she was in tears. Jared had grown up so much in the past four years and she was so proud of him. And she knew that his parents would have been as well. Maybe not as proud as Eric, but Eric always had this special bond with Jared. And, yes, Eric was very happy that Jared got into University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, but he was still working on coming to terms that that was the backup school for the other backup schools. At this point, Eric was just hoping Jared stuck with Harvard and Yale as his top two choices and maybe switched out Stanford for Princeton or Columbia (he could handle Jared being far away if he was least still on the same coast, but he wasn’t sure he could handle his little brother being in California).</p><p>Jordan is struggling with the college thing, too, and Marc is looking forward to having Jared closer to him (one of Jared’s backup schools was NYU, and he had also applied to Columbia, but Yale was only three hours by train and Harvard wasn’t much further). It was going to be a major adjustment next year, one that Tanya certainly wasn’t ready for. He had been such a huge help with Parker and Levy, eager to help Tanya with anything she needed help with. She was beyond grateful for him, especially during the season. He often helped her with things for the WAG group, no one had warned her that being the Captain's wife made her essentially Captain of the WAGs. She didn’t want to think of next year and having to do it all by herself. Maybe she should jump on the Chapel Hill train with Eric. It was only 32 miles away and Jared could continue to live with them. Still, that wouldn’t be fair to Jared. </p><p> </p><p>“Read this.” Tanya said the minute Eric walked into the house, arriving home from practice with Jeff in tow, he and Jared were apparently hanging out when Jay got home from school.</p><p>Eric took the paper and she watched the emotions cross her husband’s face as he read and Eric was blinking back tears by the time he reached the end.</p><p>“Kid’s good.” Eric choked out, pride welling in his chest. Looking over at his wife he said, “Nothing prepared us for how hard and stressful the whole college thing would be on us, you know? As much as I don’t want him leaving, I don’t want to see him crushed if he doesn’t get into his top schools.”</p><p>“You’ll just need to be there for him, like you always have been.” Tanya smiled softly, interrupted from continuing as the front door opened and Parker and Levy ran into the house.</p><p>Tanya quickly wiped her residual tears away and turned to hug her boys as they reached her.</p><p>“You okay, E?” Jared asked as he entered the kitchen. His eyes found the school paper and he bit his lip, “What did you think?”</p><p>“I’m so proud of you.” Eric sniffed, pulling Jared into a hug.</p><p>“Thank you.” Jared gasped out into Eric’s shoulder, where he had buried his face, “You don’t know what that means to me.”</p><p>“I’m sending a copy of this to everyone I know.” Eric grinned, “Hanging it in my stall. Maybe framing it.”</p><p>“It’s not that -”</p><p>“Kid, it’s good.” Eric cut him off, “People expect pieces like that in publications like ‘The Athletic’ or ‘Player Tribute’. You took your assignment and made it something special.”</p><p>“I’m having to wait a couple weeks to do the one on Marc.” Jared shrugged, “They don’t want my first two pieces to be on my brothers. They allowed the first one to be on you and Jordan because the piece was also an introduction to me. And then, when Marc comes down for Christmas, I’m probably going to do a group interview with you guys.”</p><p>“What’s your next piece on?”</p><p>“Carolina’s own rookie phenomia.” Jared shot a grin over to Jeff, who turned bright red at the description.</p><p>Eric laughed and clapped Jeff on the shoulder, “Go on. We’ll call you down for dinner.”</p><p>“Thanks, E!” Jared grinned, grabbing Jeff and pulling him toward the stairs.</p><p>“Leave the door open!” Tanya called up after them, smiling at the embarrassed whine she got in response from Jared.</p><p>“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Eric expression scrunched up in confusion.</p><p>“Oh, honey.” Tanya sighed, shaking her head with a smile as she patted Eric’s cheek. Tanya knew Eric tended to be blind towards anything that hinted that Jared was growing up, but she had seen the glances and heard the subtle flirting over the past several weeks since they had met. It wouldn’t be long before one of them took the next step, and her money was on Jeff. Because as bashful as he was, he was also not one to sit back and not go after what he wanted. He wouldn’t be in the NHL if that was not the case. Also, the sooner he did it, the sooner Eric and Jordan could know and Jared was never one to take the first step, as confident as he was in every other aspect.</p><p>“Am I missing something?” Eric asked, repeating his question louder when his wife ignored him before going outside to play with his sons, making a note to ask Jordan if he thought Tanya may be onto something. There definitely wasn’t anything going on between his rookie and his brother. No. Jared could never hide anything from him. Tanya was just messing with him.</p><p>He could hear their laughter through Jared’s open window and he kept a subtle (or not-so-subtle if the looks Tanya kept sending him were any indication) at dinner and it hit him that she may be onto something. But they would have said something. They would have told him. Because he was in charge of Jared and he was Jeff’s Captain.  He opened his mouth and then shut it quickly at the look his wife sent him, resolving to ask Jordan and Marc what they thought. Jared told Marc everything.  But would he tell Marc about a boyfriend first? He told Eric first about Travis. But Travis was just a high schooler. Jeff was an NHLer. He was Eric’s teammate. Eric really needed to stop thinking about this when Jeff was here, sitting next to Jared at dinner, making Jared giggle - honest to God, giggle. If they weren’t together, then they were close and Eric didn’t know what to do with that knowledge.</p><p> </p><p>Eric had made copies of the article, handing one to Jordan as soon as his younger brother boarded the plane and took the seat next to him.</p><p>“What’s this?” Jordan raised an eyebrow even as he started reading the article.</p><p>“Jay’s first article of the year.” Eric smiled softly, “I’m framing it.”</p><p>Jordan huffed out a laugh, but felt a lump forming in his throat as he read. Jared kept his cards close to his chest, rarely let them know exactly what he was thinking or feeling, but he laid himself bare in the words of this article. Running a hand over his face when he finished reading, he sniffed and said, “Kid’s good.”</p><p>“That’s what I said,” Eric chuckled, watching as Jordan carefully folded the paper up and tucked it into his jacket pocket, “His next piece is on Jeff.”</p><p>“Like they haven’t been spending enough time together already.” Jordan huffed out a laugh.</p><p>“Speaking of…” Eric took a subtle look around. Not seeing Jeff on the plane yet, he continued, “Do you think there’s something going on between them? Tanya thinks there is.”</p><p>“Has he said anything to you?” Jordan asked, flicking his eyes toward the entrance as Cam boarded.</p><p>“No,” Eric lowered his voice, “but I wanted to ask you before bringing Marc into it.”</p><p>“They spend a lot of time together,” Jordan replied, “which is good since Jared doesn’t really have any friends at school, right now.”</p><p>It was something that worried them. Jared’s teammates had pretty much turned their backs on him, blaming their loss at State on him. That had put an end to their tolerance of him being gay as well. The rest of that semester had been hard for him and it had been a lonely summer and start of the year. Eric and Jordan had kind of pushed him and Jeff together due to them being the same age. Jeff would bring Jared companionship and Jared would bring Jeff a sense of normalcy.</p><p>“Tanya instituted an Open Door rule.” Eric muttered as Jeff stepped onto the plane.</p><p>“Marc would have mentioned it to us if he knew anything, right?”</p><p>“Not if Jay asked him not to.”</p><p>“Marc is worse than you at keeping secrets. He would have cracked by now...depending on how long ago he was told.”</p><p>“Which means either nothing’s happened, it’s new, or Jay hasn’t told Marc.”</p><p>“Would it be a bad thing?”</p><p>“It wouldn’t be terrible,” Eric replied carefully.</p><p>“And Jeff is definitely better than Travis.” Jordan added on.</p><p>“But we still don’t know if there’s anything actually going on between them.”</p><p>“And Jared would kill us if we asked Jeff.”</p><p>Because Jeff would crack. He would crack so fast. And Jared would view it as meddling and would call Marc to complain and then Marc would call them to yell at them. It was a cycle that had been repeated multiple times since Jared learned how to talk.</p><p>“I’ll call Jay when we land,” Jordan finally said, “See what I can find out.”</p><p>“Why you?” Eric narrowed his eyes slightly.</p><p>“Because you’re not subtle.” Jordan flashed him a grin.</p><p>“I can be subtle!”</p><p>“You really can’t.” Jordan laughed, “I’ll keep you informed.”</p><p>“I can be subtle.” Eric grumbled, ignoring Jordan’s snort as his younger brother pulled on his headphones.</p><p> </p><p>When they landed, Eric received a text telling him to leave Jared alone. He was quick to defend himself. After all, he had only thought about meddling, he hadn’t actually meddled yet. </p><p>“How does he do that?” Eric whispered to himself, glaring down at his phone. Maybe Siri was spying on him for Marc. He knew Jordan hadn’t talked to Jared yet because he had fallen asleep right after they had finished talking.</p><p>“What?” Jordan asked, still working on actually waking up even as they deplaned and loaded onto the bus.</p><p>“Marc just texted me to leave Jay alone.”</p><p>“But we haven’t done anything to meddle yet.”</p><p>“I know.”<br/>
“He’s a freak.”</p><p>Eric just laughed in response.</p><p>Jeff entered the bus shortly after he and Jordan took their seats, a stupid little grin on his face as he looked down at his phone. And Eric had seen that stupid little grin before...when Jeff was in the same space as Jared, and sometime when he was just talking about Jared, and why hadn’t he noticed it before?</p><p>Eric was planning to ignore it, but then a couple of the guys started chirping Jeff about his dopey expression, because it really was obvious and he should know better by now.  When he turned his head, Jeff was bright red (but genuinely laughing so Eric didn’t have to be Captain and tell everyone to leave the Rookie alone).</p><p> </p><p>“Someone special?” Eric asked lightly, tone quiet as they walked into the rink.</p><p>“Very.” Jeff smiled shyly.</p><p>“Anyone I know?”</p><p>“Jared told me that you suck at being subtle and he was right.”</p><p>“I can be subtle!”</p><p>“No, you can’t!” Jordan smirked, coming up on the other side of Jeff.</p><p>“Fuck you!” Eric glared over Jeff’s head at his little brother.</p><p>“Jay says to leave me alone.” Jeff informed the brothers.</p><p>“We haven’t done anything!” the Staal defended themselves in unison.</p><p>Jeff just laughed in response.</p><p>“Are we that predictable?” Eric muttered.</p><p>“Maybe you are.” Jordan replied, dodging the elbow his older brother sent his way.</p><p> </p><p>“Jaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy,” Jordan whined after ten mintues of listening to Jared prattle on about the trip to the park he and Parker went on that day.</p><p>“I am in the middle of telling you a story about your very cute nephew.” Jared replied and Jordan could hear the smirk in his voice.</p><p>“Just answer my question.”</p><p>“I did. You asked if I was hanging out with anyone special and I was with Parker all day today.”</p><p>“You know that’s not what I mean.”</p><p>“You know, you’re almost as bad as Eric at being subtle.”</p><p>“You take that back.”</p><p>“Why the sudden interest?”</p><p>“We never talk about these things. I understand not talking to Eric, he can be…”</p><p>“Judgemental? Protective? Want me to continue?”</p><p>“But, come on, you know that whatever you did, I’ve done way worse.”</p><p>“This isn’t getting in trouble at school, Jordie, this a boyfriend and you can be just as over-protective as Eric. Marc isn’t. At least, his brain doesn’t jump to everything that could be wrong the guy.”</p><p>“Well, we were right about Travis….sorry.”</p><p>“Tell me what you think you know, Jordie.”</p><p>“E and I think that you and Jeff might be...you know…”</p><p>“What answer do you want to hear?”</p><p>“What answer’s the truth?”</p><p>“Jordie…”</p><p>“Jaybird…”</p><p>“Don’t call me that.”</p><p>“Then tell me.”</p><p>“Jeff and I are...talking.”</p><p>“Well, duh. You talk every fucking day. But ‘talking’ doesn’t make Tanya institute an Open Door policy.”</p><p>“She told you about that?”</p><p>“No, Eric did.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Jared finally said, voice soft, “we’ve been a...thing for a couple of weeks.”</p><p>“And when were you going to tell us?”</p><p>“I just told Marc, like, two days ago.”</p><p>“Which means that Marc is close to breaking. So, you can either tell Eric tonight or I can tell Eric to start asking Marc questions.”</p><p>“You’re terrible.”</p><p>“And you’re sneakier than any of had given you credit for. Now, what did you and Parker do after the park?”</p><p>Jordan kept him talking until he had to hang up for his pre-game nap, wanting to keep Jared distracted from thinking about his homework and tests coming up.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait until after the game to let this bother you, but,” Jordan started as he flopped himself down into the seat next to Eric, “they’ve been ‘a thing’ for a couple of weeks. Jay is supposed to call you tonight after the game.”</p><p>Eric gave him an assessing look but then pulled his headphones and looked out the window. He would wait until after the game for it to bother him.</p><p> </p><p>They skated all over the Islanders and when Eric checked his phone after the game, there was a text from Jared asking him to call him when he got the chance, making a point to say that it wasn’t important and it could wait until tomorrow.</p><p>The guys wanted to go out after the game and Eric agreed, waiting for his team to get settled in around the tables they had claimed in the bar before ducking out and calling Jared.</p><p>“Hey. I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Eric asked when Jared didn’t answer the phone right away.</p><p>“Nah,” Jared replied, “My phone was buried under my AP Lit notes.”</p><p>“Jordan said that you have something to tell me.”</p><p>“Yeah...so Jeff and I are kind of a thing?”</p><p>“What does ‘kind of’ mean?”</p><p>“We’ve been hanging out, a lot, but we haven’t really had the ‘boyfriend conversation’ yet.”</p><p>“But would you consider him one?”</p><p>“I’m not seeing anyone else. I don’t know about him, though.”</p><p>“ I don’t think he’s seeing another person. He spends all his free time with you.”</p><p>“When you guys are at home, yeah, but who knows about Roadies.”</p><p>“Well, from what I can tell, he’s spent this whole Roadie so far smiling goofily down at his phone...talking to you.”</p><p>“I’m sure that’s not why.”</p><p>“Jay, the only time I have ever seen that smile is when he’s with you.”</p><p>“Are you okay with this? Because if you’re not, then I’ll call it off. He’s your teammate.”</p><p>“And you’re my baby brother.” Eric had never heard Jared sound so unsure of a choice he’d made and Eric wanted to make sure he never sounded like that again, “I just want you to be happy. And if Skinny is what makes you happy, then I’m okay.”</p><p>“Thank you, E. Your approval means a lot to me.”</p><p>“Kid, the only thing you ever have to do to make me proud is be yourself and be happy. And if you’re having a hard time doing either of those things, then talk to me and I will do everything possible to help you.”</p><p>“...I should go. I have a test tomorrow.”</p><p>“Go to bed. You’re not going to be able to stuff anymore information into your head tonight.”</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>“I love you, Jaybird.”</p><p>“Love you, too, E.”</p><p>Eric hung up and headed back inside, sliding into the booth next to Jordan and accepting the beer that was handed to him.</p><p>“Everything good?” Jordan asked.</p><p>“Yeah. He’s got a test tomorrow that he’s been stressing over all day and he and Jeff are a ‘thing’. They haven’t had the boyfriend talk but it’s really just a matter of time before that happens.”</p><p>“And how do you feel about that?”</p><p>“Surprisingly okay. You?”</p><p>“A little worse than you, but okay, I guess.”</p><p>“You always were the more protective one.”</p><p>“How do we as a whole feel about this?”</p><p>“We should probably get with Marc to discuss.”</p><p>“He’s happy, though, right? He’s okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, he’s happy.”</p><p>“Then Marc will be on board.”</p><p> </p><p>And Marc was on board. A little too on board according to Jordan. But no one had Tanya beat with how on board she was. Jordan was pretty sure that she was planning the wedding already. Which was ridiculous. Jared was only eighteen. He was still a baby. And, yes, Jeff was the same age, but he was an NHL player. Jared was a normal teenager. He was in high school. He was waiting to hear back from his top four schools. He would be in college next year, in an Ivy at that. Because there was no doubt in any of their minds that he was heading to Yale if he was admitted. And Jordan liked Jeff. He really did. And if Jeff was any other guy, a guy that attended school with Jared, he would probably like him as Jared’s boyfriend.</p><p>“What’s with the face?” Eric skated to a stop next to Jordan.</p><p>“I’m fine.” Jordan shook his head, “Overreacting.”</p><p>“About Jeff?”</p><p>“I don’t know why. I like the kid just fine. I wouldn’t mind at all if he went to school with Jared. But... I mean, I know what I was like as a rookie.”</p><p>“You were always the Wild Child, though.” Eric responded, “Jeff isn’t like you. And he’s kind of obsessed with our little brother, if you haven’t noticed. Jared had me read over the transcript of his interview with Jeff to help him cut out all the flirting. It was gross.”</p><p>Jordan couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, “Any word from Yale?”</p><p>“Not yet.” Eric responded, “I can tell he’s starting to worry.”</p><p>“Bad yet?”</p><p>“No. But I’m keeping an eye on it.”</p><p>Jordan was saved from a response by Jared appearing on the bench, Jeff immediately making a beeline for him.</p><p>“Gross.” Jordan whispered as he watched his little brother blush at whatever the rookie had said to him.</p><p>Eric snickered before nudging him and heading over as well.</p><p>“What’s up, Jaybird?” Jordan grinned widely as Jared blushed and glared at him.</p><p>“Everything okay?” Eric asked, growing worried. Jared didn’t just stop by practice without a reason. And that reason was usually not because something good happened.</p><p>“I haven’t told Marc yet, I wanted to tell you first.” Jared turned his full attention to Eric, “I got this today.”</p><p>Eric quickly tore his gloves off, practically throwing them and his stick at Jordan, and gently took the letter from Jared, grin growing as he read the words.</p><p>“Jay.” Eric turned the full force of his proud-brother grin on the baby Staal.</p><p>“It’s not Yale, but Harvard’s a pretty good back-up, I guess.” Jared shrugged, trying to go for nonchalant.<br/>
Jordan let out a loud whoop, which drew the attention of the entire team, coaching staff, trainers, and press. He hopped over the bench and hugged Jared tightly, dropping his and Eric’s gloves and sticks, crowing, “Baby Bro got into Harvard!”</p><p>“Are we still wanting to wait for Yale?” Eric asked, rolling his eyes at Jordan.</p><p>“I don’t know. Harvard is practically in Boston, so I would get to see you guys and Marc whenever you play there.” Jared responded.</p><p>“And that’s why WE want you to pick it. But do YOU want to go there?” Eric pressed, “Because I know your wall is covered with Yale memorabilia, but we can change that.”</p><p>“I don’t know.” Jared’s eyebrows furrowed and he got his thinking-too-hard face on.</p><p>“You don’t have to decide anything today.” Jeff jumped in, “Just decide where you want me to take to celebrate.”</p><p>“I think I get first dibs on celebratory dinner.” Eric glared, Jordan nodding his head in agreement.</p><p>“He is OUR baby brother.” Jordan smirked, “And Tanya will probably invite you over anyway.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about dinner.” Jared smiled softly at Jeff before biting his lip, “You can congratulate me in a different way.”</p><p>“Nope.” Eric shook his head, grabbing his gear from the ice and skating away, “Did not need to hear that.”</p><p>“Gross.” Jordan muttered, following his older brother’s lead.</p><p>Jeff and Jared laughed at their reactions and Jared put his hand on Jeff’s helmet, “Go. Finish practice and come over tonight. Jordie’s right. Tanya’s making a celebratory dinner and it wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t there. Also, there’s media here so I can’t kiss you and I really want to, so I should leave now.”</p><p>“I’ll see you tonight.” Jeff grinned over at him, trying not to watch Jared walk down the tunnel.</p><p>Jeff couldn’t have gotten the dorky grin off his face for the rest of practice even if he wanted to. He firmly ignored the chirping it got him from his teammates. Eric wouldn’t let it continue much longer anyway since it was his little brother that was the cause of said dorky grin.</p><p> </p><p>Jeff was finishing packing up his bag when Jordan said, “I’ll give you a ride back to your place, Rookie.”</p><p>Jeff just nodded, ignoring the “ooooh”s coming from his teammates. He knew he was overdue for a talk with Jordan. It had been too easy so far, with both Eric AND Marc jumping onboard rather quickly.</p><p>“Don’t kill him, Jordy,” Eric smirked as they walked past him, “Jay would be awfully upset.”</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t until the car was started and Jordan was pulling out of his parking spot did he say anything.</p><p>“I didn’t know how I really felt about you dating Jared.” Jordan says and Jeff knows not to interrupt him, “On the surface level, I was fine with it. I mean, E wasn’t freaking out and he tends to be my metric for how I should react to all things Jared-related. He’s always just been able to read Jay. It’s why Jay tends to tell Marc how he’s feeling first, because Eric probably already knows. But I couldn’t just jump on board with this. Because I know what I was like my Rookie year. And E says that you’re nothing like me, which you’re not. But still… you and Jay… you’re the same age but you’re in very different places and I can’t stop thinking about that. You’re a Rookie in the NHL and Jay is in his last year of high school and getting ready for college.”</p><p>“That’s just it though,” Jeff responded, “To him, I’m not a Rookie in the NHL. I’m me. And that’s all he expects me to be.”</p><p>“I just don’t want him to get hurt.” Jordan’s voice was hard, “He’s been hurt enough.”</p><p>“I would never hurt him.” Jeff responded, “Not on purpose.”</p><p>“I think I know that, but he’s still my little brother and I have always done what Eric couldn’t to keep him from getting hurt.” Jordan sighed, “Marc has always been the only one of us who knew when to let Jared do his own thing. Me and Eric tended to hover...still do. We don’t like seeing Jay hurt. And it’s not like Marc does, but he understands that it will help Jay grow and me and E think that Jay should be kept safe and happy in a bubble.”</p><p>“He would hate that.” Jeff laughed lightly.</p><p>“I know.” Jordan chuckled, “But still… Has he talked to you? About next year? Because he hasn’t really talked about it much with any of us, not even Marc.”</p><p>“I think he’s just trying to get through this semester.” Jeff replied honestly, “His course load is a little too heavy to focus on anything else. And it’s only October.”</p><p>“Knew we should have fought him on that schedule more.” Jordan glared at the road.</p><p>“It’s better than him having time to worry about everything else.” Jeff responded, “He doesn’t have time to really stress about not hearing from Yale. He doesn’t have time to think about hockey. He can fill every hour of the day with something else to think about that’s not something that would upset him.”</p><p>“Still -”</p><p>“I’m not saying it’s healthy. It’s not. And I’ve tried to tell him that. But it’s what he needs to do.”</p><p>“He’s happy with you.”</p><p>“I like to think he is.”</p><p>“You know that E was just hoping you would be Jay’s friend, right?”</p><p>Jeff laughed brightly at that, “Yeah. But Jared is…. He’s really special.”</p><p>“Yeah, he is.”</p><p>The two finished the ride in comfortable silence until Jordan pulled over in front of Jeff’s apartment building.</p><p>“See you tonight. Do you need a ride?” Jordan asked as Jeff opened the car door.</p><p>“I don’t think so.” Jeff shook his head, looking at his phone, “Jared’s currently in my apartment so we’ll be hanging out until it’s time to go over.”</p><p>Jordan nodded and waved goodbye as Jeff shut the car door, staying until Jeff was in the building - a habit that was instill in him these last four years of dropping Jared off at wherever he needed to go. He did take a cursory look along the street for Jared’s car but didn’t see it. Which meant that he had either taken the bus to the arena and then to Jeff’s place, Tanya had taken him both places (which didn’t seem likely), or Jeff had given him access to the underground garage of the building (which was a possibility that Jordan didn’t want to think about because that would imply that this was more serious than he initially thought).</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think Jordan wants to kill me anymore.” Jeff said as he walked through his door, smiling fondly as his eyes instantly went to Jared, who was sitting on the floor surrounded by textbooks and notes, “On the other hand, I’m sure he’s just one tear from you to hating me again.”</p><p>“He never hated you.” Jared replied, “He knows what that would do to team chemistry.”</p><p>“Okay, but he didn’t approve of me being your boyfriend.”</p><p>“That’s just on brand for him, then.” Jared finally looked up at him.</p><p>Dropping a quick kiss to Jared’s lips, Jeff smiled softly, “Hi.”</p><p>“Hi.” Jared grinned.</p><p>“Are you at a stopping point?”</p><p>“Maybe. What would I be taking a break for?”</p><p>“Making out on the couch like the teenagers we are.” Jeff grinned broadly, “Away from brotherly supervision. No worries about anyone walking in on us.”</p><p>“I could be persuaded to take a break.”</p><p>Jeff waited patiently while Jared carefully moved his books and notes to the coffee table and slid up onto the couch.</p><p>“Hi.” Jared grinned, wrapping his arms around Jeff’s neck and kissing him sweetly.</p><p>Jeff responded to the kiss instantly, running his hand up Jared’s leg to his knee, grabbing it and moving it so that his leg was hooked around Jeff’s waist as he leaned down, pressing Jared down into the couch and the kiss got more heated.</p><p> </p><p>“Jordan is gonna kill you.” Jared muttered, wiping the smug look at the rather large hickey on Jared’s neck off of Jeff’s face instantly, “And you’re gonna get the Disappointed Guardian look from Eric.”</p><p>“Well, maybe if you didn’t make such pretty noises, I wouldn’t be so tempted to leave marks.” Jeff made a half-hearted attempt at a defense, but they both knew he didn’t mean it. Because he really did love the noises Jared made and Jared liked wearing his marks. The only thing they could live without was the reactions from Eric and Jordan.</p><p>The first time Eric had seen a mark left by Jeff, he sat Jared down for a more serious version of The Talk than he had initially given his little brother and then Jordan popped over later to pile on because - of course - Eric couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Then both brothers ganged up on Jeff, who left the conversation bright red and a little terrified of his Captain and Jordan. </p><p>Shortly after, Jeff was helping to pack up Jared stuff and they were in the elevator down to the underground garage to get Jared’s car.<br/>
“Thank you, by the way,” Jared muttered as he pulled out of the garage and started down the street, “I needed to turn my brain off for a bit.”</p><p>“Well, anytime you need to turn off your brain, I’m your guy.” Jeff grinned.</p><p>“I’ll take you up on that.” Jared shot him a grin, trying to hide his smile as Jeff took the hand not on the steering wheel and laced their fingers together.</p><p> </p><p>When Jared pulled into the driveway at Eric’s they saw Jordan’s car already there. Jeff became mentally preparing himself for the glare he knew was coming because the hickey he had left was definitely darker and looked larger than it did when they were at his place… and maybe he should consider leaving marks further down so that they could be hidden by Jared’s shirt.</p><p>When they entered, Jared immediately headed upstairs to drop his backpack off in his room, but wasn’t quite quick enough.</p><p>“Really?” Eric’s voice was flat as he leveled Jeff with his patented Disappointed Guardian look, “He looks like he was mauled.”</p><p>“It’s not that bad,” were the words that left Jeff’s mouth without permission and caused his face to go red.</p><p>Jeff was, thankfully saved, by Jared coming back downstairs and draping himself over Jordan to distract him and joining Parker and Levy in cheering on Eric in MarioKart.</p><p>“Oh, Jay,” Tanya grinned, grabbing an envelope off the counter, “This got delivered next door by mistake.”</p><p>“What is….” Jared trailed off when he saw the return address: Yale University.</p><p>He scrambled off of Jordan and tore open the envelope, hands shaking as he read the letter, one hand going up to his mouth.</p><p>“Jay,” Eric stood up, ready to react in whatever way his baby brother needed him to.</p><p>“I got in.” Jared’s voice came out in a whisper before he turned to face Eric, eyes bright and smile wide, “I got in!”</p><p>He launched himself at Eric, who caught him easily, Jordan joining the huddle, Jared laughing as his older brothers cheered and congratulated him. Jeff pretended he didn’t notice the tears in Eric’s eyes or the ones running down Tanya’s face, as she placed her hand over her mouth and smiled proudly - grabbing her phone to snap a quick picture of the brothers.  Parker and Levy didn’t know what was happening, but they joined their dad in celebratory shouts.</p><p>When Jared finally extracted himself from his family - Tanya had pulled him into a suffocating hug after Eric and Jordan had released him - he made his way over to Jeff.</p><p>“Congrats, Jay.” Jeff smiled up at his boyfriend, kissing him chastly (all too aware of Eric and Jordan’s presence), “You earned this.”</p><p>“Just have one more choice to make.” Jared responded, worrying his bottom lip.</p><p>Jeff tugged it from Jared’s teeth gently and said, “Well, put that worrying on the back burner and let us celebrate you tonight. I promise you can worry all you want after dinner.”</p><p>Jared laughed, kissing Jeff one more time before deciding that maybe wearing Parker and Levy out a little before dinner would be a good idea.</p><p>Jeff watched from the kitchen window and Jared ran around the backyard with his nephews, feeling himself falling a little more in love with the youngest Staal brother.  He found himself laughing out loud as Jared let Parker and Levy tackle him to the ground. Eric had rolled his eyes and popped his head outside to remind them that - while Jared wasn’t on crutches anymore and was technically as healed as he was going to get - they had to be careful with his knee. </p><p> </p><p>Dinner passed too quickly and Jordan was giving Jeff a ride home as it was a school night and technically passed Jared’s curfew.</p><p>And Eric was, once again, eternally grateful for his little brother as Parker and Levy went to bed with the ease of two children who had had all the sugar they had consumed throughout the day run out of them. They had been practically falling asleep at the dinner table. Next year was going to be an adjustment for all of them. </p><p>Knocking lightly on Jared door, he pushed it open expecting to see his little brother at his desk trying to squeeze in more study time before he had to go to bed, he was surprised to see Jared sitting one the bed. More specifically, sitting cross-legged on the bed with his Yale and Harvard acceptance letters in front of him, facing his “Yale Wall” (a wall of his bedroom that had been painted Navy and was decorated with various Yale merchandise and pictures). Taking a deep breath, he entered the room and shut the door.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” he asked, joining his little brother on the bed, facing the Yale Wall as well to try to see whatever it was his brother was seeing.</p><p>Jared was silent for so long, Eric thought he was going to have to go into Prying-Mode, before saying, “We dedicated a whole wall to Yale. I was so sure that Yale was my dream school.”</p><p>“We dedicated a whole wall to Yale three years ago. A lot can change in those three years. A lot HAS changed in those three years.”</p><p>“I still want to do journalism.”</p><p>“And Harvard has a great journalism program. You met with the Department Head and he conducted your tour himself.”</p><p>“Cambridge is cooler than New Haven.”</p><p>“Boston’s right across the river.”</p><p>“I’d get you see you, Jordy, and Marc whenever you guys play in Boston. And Jeff”</p><p>“It’s also farther away from New York, so you don’t run the risk of Marc deciding to drop by randomly.”</p><p>“There seems to be more positive reviews of Harvard’s journalism program than Yale’s.”</p><p>“That’s very important since that’s where you’ll spend most of your time.”</p><p>“And Yale initially me for hockey. Harvard wanted me for my academics. When I got hurt, the mailers from Yale lessened, Harvard’s increased.”</p><p>“You sound like you made up your mind.”</p><p>“But we have a whole wall.”</p><p>“We can start a new wall. Repaint it. Go crazy at the Harvard bookstore.” </p><p>He got a weary smile in return but was enough to make Eric relax. He pulled Jared into a hug and whispered, “Go Crimson?”</p><p>“Go Crimson.” Jared replied, tucking his face into Eric’s neck.</p><p> </p><p>When Jared got home from school the following day, the wall that had once been Navy and gaudily decorated was now painted Crimson and only had one thing pinned to it: his Harvard Acceptance Letter.</p><p>“The rest is being delivered throughout the week.” Eric said, stepping into the room, “but I thought this would be a nice start.”</p><p>Jared just threw his arms around Eric, muttering, “Thank you, E. For everything.”</p><p>Eric hugged him back just as tightly and whispered, “I have you.”</p>
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